Thoughts on HD-DVD

[Funkstar]

Now that HD-DVD has been officially "dead" for almost 6 months, what are peoples thoughts on its future?

Since the xBox 360 HD-DVD drive became available for about £20 and loads of titles are down around £5, I've bought about 60 of the damned things. And going by the number of threads about HD-DVD bargains, I'm not the only one stocking up.

Are we likely to see this continuing? Or will the titles dry up?

There must be a significant user base for it as it stands, do you think we will continue to see titles being released on the format?

[digit]

I think its just going to die a death, I really don't think we'll see anything else released now, unless its already been manufactored before HD DVD 'died'. Supplies are just going to dry up I think, I'd even predict by the end of this year we won't be seeing it featuring at in retail, and the only place to get them will be ebay.

[SiM]

If only some studios realise what has happened and then turn back to toshiba/hd-dvd with open arms, they will make so much more money. I am pretty certain there are at least 3 HD-DVD players/drives for every one blu-ray...

[digit]

Its not profitable though surely for the film companies to produce both HD DVD and Blu Ray versions of there films? One standard I personally think is better then having two. However there are already a few more disc types emerging from Asia I think.

[Elessar_VPR]

I decided to get an LG BluRay/HD-DVD combo drive for my PC, so that I could pick up the cheap HD-DVD's and still have the Blu-Ray option for the future. Not planning at present on duplicating any titles I've already got on DVD though (with the exception of Serenity).

[Saracen]

I suspect that titles will dry up and that HD-DVD will vanish. With little or no studio support it's tricky to see any development money being put into new hardware, and it looks likely that all future attention will be on Blu-ray .... 'til the next must-have enhancement comes along. So, HD-DVD drives will become harder and harder to get, and in a few years, those with HD-DVD drives that break down will be unable to replace them and they'll be stuck with discs they can't play.

Which is why I'm still not buying either hardware or discs until it becomes VERY clear what the future holds.

Of course, I could just ass easily be wrong.

[SiM]

Titles will dry up, but it won't vanish for quite a few years. There will be a booming second hand market for HD-DVDs... well there already is... look at the HD-DVD for sale forum on AV Forums

[Saracen]

Very likely, SiM. But, I'd suspect it'll be among those that have already bought into HD-DVD, and that fairly few will take the plunge now.

And it may be that there'll be a small, on-going niche market that will survive for years. It may even the that there'll be niche hardware manufacturers. After all, everyone thought CD would kill vinyl, but there's still a market among enthusiasts (including me) for hardware, and record-pressing plants have even seen demand increasing for the last few years.

And for our younger members that don't know what I'm talking about, Google and Wikipedia are you friend.

[SiM]

Well I jumped on board the HD-DVD bandwagon recently. Its just too cheap to resist
I will probably buy a spare xbox drive or the combo blu/hddvd drive as backup for when/if this one dies. With one back up drive this will almost certainly last until the next technology comes along...

[MD]

I bought into both formats a long time ago, with an EP30 last christmas and already owning a PS3 i was ready for it to go either way.

In all honesty though I have a real issues with the price of Blu Ray's and the seeming increase since the announcement on HDDVD's demise.

I now have a 60GB PS3 that hasn't been on in over 8 weeks, two EP30's (one downstairs and one upstairs) and two XBOX 360 add on drives.

I actually prefer the HDDVD format, not least because I can buy discs from anywhere in the world without worrying if they will play on y player or not.

I now have over 180 HDDVD's and around 20 Blu-Rays, as a cost comparison the Blu Rays have cost me on average 250% more than the price of HDDVD's in my collection.

What these studios need to realise is the consumer wont buy into thr format until either the player is dirt cheap or the discs are.

An even better outcome is when they both are - and in my eyes i would rather sell off my Blu Ray and stick with assembling a good collection of HDDVD's.

Matt

[Funkstar]

Around £5 for a title in HD, with a negligible up front investment in the playback hardware is just too cheap to resist for me too.

You were able to buy laserdisc players for years after they stopped producing titles. At least with HD-DVD the basic hardware is so close to BluRay that producing combo readers isn't really any harder than a single format reader. I would expect to still get them for years to come.

A can easily see another disk format appearing to replace BluRay, but it will still be HD, nothing higher will appear in the consumer or enthusiast space in the next 10 years in my opinion.

So once I have fed my HD-DVDs through my 360 drive, what does the disk format matter? I have HD content that cost me the same or less than the same SD content.

[TooNice]

I've not really looked - do you need to look hard to build a cheap collection of HD-DVD? And is there a site that summarise titles that are as good/better on HD-DVD than on BD? I don't intend to build a massive collection, but for a fiver, I'd be happy to grab perhaps a dozen titles I've enjoyed (Stardust, Transformers - actually is LotR out on HD?) if I can get hold of a cheap drive.

[Funkstar]

Have a look at some of the other threads floating about.

The Hut.com: Cheap DVDs, Games, Books & Memory at great prices - FREE Delivery
Buy music, DVDs, games and books online with free delivery - zavvi UK
DVD Crave - DVD, HD-DVD, Blu-ray, PS3, PS2, PSP, XBOX, XBOX 360, Nintendo, Gamecube, DS, Wii, PAL, Best Price, Australia
hmv.com: Music CDs, DVDs, Games & More

they all have cheap HD-DVDs

Transformers is still expensive, not sure about Stardust and LoTR isn't available on either format yet.

As for the differences, there aren't many. both have pretty much the same quality of content.

[SiM]

Transformers is 2 disc, that's why it costs more
Remember quidco where ever you order...

[Funkstar]

That makes sense, didn't realise that SiM

Although Bourne Ultimatum is still expensive too.

[SiM]

I think Ultimatum is expensive because of demand... If you see it cheap, please let me know!